After the outstanding success of the iQOO 13, iQOO returns to the flagship arena with the iQOO 15. Starting at ₹72,999, iQOO 15 features the latest Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chipset for top-grade performance and gaming. It boasts of iQOO’s largest vapour chamber cooling system, a massive 7,000 mAh battery with 100W fast charging, and a stunning 6.85-inch M14 2K 144 Hz ultra-bright AMOLED display. Competing strongly with the Realme GT 8 Pro and OnePlus 15, the iQOO 15 stands out for its advanced Q3 gaming chip with ray tracing and immersive 4D dual-axis vibration motor, making it a formidable contender in the sub-₹75,000. Let’s dive deeper to see if the iQOO 15 lives up to the hype and secures its place among 2025’s top flagships or not.
Design
The iQOO 15 builds on the design language of the iQOO 13 but sharpens the aesthetic with cleaner transitions and a bolder identity. The Legend variant, which I reviewed, uses a glass back with a fresh interpretation of the tri-colour pattern. It’s an elegant touch that gives the phone an instantly recognisable character. The frame feels tighter, the curves more controlled, and the hand-feel is more refined than last year’s model.
At 8.17mm and 220g, the Legend variant isn’t the lightest phone in its class (the Alpha Black variant trims it slightly to 216g), but the weight distribution is excellent. The in-hand feel is premium and well-balanced, not slab-like. Compared to the OnePlus 15, which leans into a more industrial and compact feel, the iQOO 15 feels slightly broader but more substantial. Against the Realme GT 8 Pro, it feels more refined and less experimental, especially since Realme is busy tryingmodular camera bumps this year.
iQOO 15 design
| Photo Credit:
Haider Ali Khan
The front continues the ultra-symmetrical look with slim bezels and a clean, open layout. Ports and buttons are placed with precision, and the phone retains a polished metal mid-frame. An important upgrade this year is the IP68 and IP69 rating. The subtle highlight of the design is the Monster Halo. Hidden under the camera module, it glows elegantly during gaming, music, charging, and calls, giving iQOO’s gaming-centric identity a classy edge.
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Display
The iQOO 15 features a 6.85-inch M14 2K+ 144Hz Ultra Bright Display, co-developed with Samsung. This year, the brand introduces no-polarisation display technology, improving viewing angles and colour accuracy. Brightness ranges from 1 to 6,000 nits, making it one of the most adaptable displays on any smartphone. In real-world use, dynamic behaviour is outstanding: stepping out of a metro station or a dim café, the display adjusts instantly thanks to triple ambient light sensors, an edge neither the OnePlus 15 nor Realme GT 8 Pro offer.
Outdoor visibility is excellent, aided by the anti-reflective film, which noticeably reduces glare. Wet Finger Control is extremely practical; calls, scrolling, and even gaming remain responsive even when the screen is wet, something many flagships still struggle with.
OS & AI
Running Android 16, with the new OriginOS 6 for the first time ever in any Vivo or iQOO device, the iQOO 15 finally embraces a more polished software experience. Animations are cleaner, transitions more fluid, and the layout feels more modern than previous iterations. The promise of 5 years of Android updates and 7 years of security patches rivals the long-term support offered by OnePlus.
AI upgrades are meaningful, not gimmicky. The phone supports passerby removal, intelligent weather transformation, seasonal background changes, and creative filters like Oil Painting, Cyberpunk, and Anime. The standout feature is the AI Reflection Erase, which removes reflections from transparent materials with surprising accuracy. While the OnePlus 15’s Plus Mind and Gemini integration feel more contextual and Realme’s NEXT AI aims for convenience, iQOO focuses on media creation, and does it well.
Performance
Performance is where the iQOO 15 justifies its existence. The Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 paired with 16 GB LPDDR5X Ultra RAM and 512 GB UFS 4.1 storage results in an aggressively fast device. App launches snap open, multitasking feels limitless, and the 33% faster memory speeds help keep everything consistently fluid. Benchmark numbers reflect brute strength: the device hits 3,775,031 on AnTuTu, 23,484 (GPU), 3,654 (single-core), and 10,676 (multi-core) on Geekbench, outpacing the Realme GT 8 Pro and running neck-to-neck with the OnePlus 15.
The 8000mm² vapour chamber cooling system is a monster in its own right, 14% larger surface, nano-particle infusion, and a double-layer structure that improves heat dissipation by up to 47% over iQOO 13. Sustained performance during long gaming sessions remains remarkably stable, even when pushing graphically intense titles.
But the real magic comes from the Q3 Supercomputing Chip. With dedicated DA, RT and AI cores, it delivers console-level visuals and smooth performance more reliably than traditional mobile processors. The hardware ray tracing brings realistic lighting and reflections, the 2K native super resolution sharpens every frame, and the 144 fps lossless frame interpolation keeps motion fluid even in fast action scenes. All of this is supported by the QNSS super rendering engine, which pushes visual clarity and stability to a level usually reserved for high-end gaming devices.
Games like BGMI, CODM, and Genshin feel smoother, richer, and more immersive. The 4D dual-axis vibration motor enhances directional feedback, letting you pinpoint enemy gunfire with surprising accuracy. Compared to the OnePlus 15’s Cryo-Velocity system, iQOO 15’s thermal and frame stability under high load is better. While Realme’s 7K VC sustains long-term performance well, but iQOO 15’s raw graphics superiority is undeniable.
Camera
The iQOO 15 keeps the same philosophy as the iQOO 13 but refines it. The 50 MP IMX921 main sensor, 50 MP IMX882 3x periscope lens, and 50 MP ultrawide form a versatile triple camera system. The periscope lens is the only major hardware upgrade and brings a solid improvement in 3x–5x portrait capturing. Subjects appear crisp, edges are clean, and background separation feels natural.
iQOO 15 camera sample
| Photo Credit:
Haider Ali Khan
Daylight photos have excellent clarity and realistic tones. iQOO’s processing prefers accuracy over saturation, keeping colours close to what your eyes see. The phone does not overuse AI, it refines rather than transforms. Compared to the OnePlus 15’s DetailMax engine, iQOO 15 produces slightly less micro-detail but wins in delivering natural, less processed results.
iQOO 15 camera sample
| Photo Credit:
Haider Ali Khan
Night shots benefit from the NICE 2.0 algorithm, offering controlled highlights, reduced noise, and improved stability. Telephoto night images perform surprisingly well for a 10x system in this price segment. The 32MP selfie upgrade is excellent. The wider 90-degree lens is great for group shots, and 4K 60fps video makes it creator-friendly.
iQOO 15 camera sample
| Photo Credit:
Haider Ali Khan
Battery
The 7,000 mAh silicon anode battery is a standout highlight. With 15% higher energy density and triple the silicon content of the previous generation, the battery lasts noticeably longer than the iQOO 13. Heavy users can comfortably push through a full day, while moderate users will see up to two days of runtime.
Charging is handled by 100W FlashCharge. When compared with rivals like Realme GT 8 Pro and OnePlus 15, the phone seems to fall short on some parameters. I also liked the Battery Life Extender feature of the phone which resumes apps instantly after a full shutdown.
Verdict
The iQOO 15 stands out for what it does best: pure performance, elite gaming hardware, a fantastic display, and massive battery life. It doesn’t try to be everything; instead, it focuses on speed, stability, and visual power. Compared to the OnePlus 15, iQOO 15 offers better gaming features and cooler sustained performance, though OnePlus 15 still leads in refinement and camera polish. Against the Realme GT 8 Pro, the iQOO 15 offers more consistent cameras and a better cooling system, while Realme wins in display brightness and charging speed.
If you’re looking for the fastest, smoothest Android flagship under ₹75,000, especially for gaming and multimedia, the iQOO 15 is the one to beat. However, at such a price limit, it may take a bit more convincing to attract the users.
